By Francis Brienen.
For many the decade festival started quite a while ago, with national celebrations to mark the end of the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women. For me it started on flight SA22 from Johannesburg to Harare on 26th November 1998, on a plane filled almost entirely with decade go-ers. "Why are there so many women on this flight?" a man behind me asked. Several women volunteered the answer and animated discussions began.
The atmosphere was one of excitement, fuelled by the so-called women-to-women visits that a number of delegates had been on prior to the decade festival. My neighbour, Malini from Sri Lanka, had visited women in South Africa and had found it a wonderful opportunity to learn about the lives of women there and to gain some understanding of what the decade had meant for them.
Arriving at the airport in Harare, Zimbabwe, gave us a first impression of the scale of the festival. About 1,100 people were expected and mini-buses were driving off and on between the airport and the festival venue to meet people.
The Technical Teachers' College Campus, where the festival was held, was crowded with people and everybody seemed to be looking for their rooms or where to register. Remarkably, there was method to the apparent madness and a few hours later we were all housed, fed and kitted out with a name badge, conference papers and a beautiful hand-sewn tote bag.
The next day the festival started in earnest. In the enormous gymnasium of the college there were well over 100 round tables seating eight people each. We were all assigned a number and told to find the corresponding table. Finding the table made for an excellent if unintended ice-breaker. I found my table and my group members coming from Cameroon, Botswana, Taiwan and Switzerland fairly quickly. We spent the day worshipping, listening to speeches, doing Bible study together and discussing the first draft of a document that was to go on behalf of the festival to the Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting immediately after the festival.
Musimbi Kanyoro of Kenya delivered the address in the opening worship. She described the struggles of African women and paid tribute to them for refusing to give up on God, themselves and the Church. She also challenged them, and us. "We can no longer just call for solidarity," she said, "but rather we need to be a part of a redefining and redesigning process for all the changes we hoped for during this decade." She identified trouble-making as another source of seeking accountability, citing the many women who challenged their churches for justice on women's concerns during the Ecumenical Decade. "God invites us to join in the trouble-making that leads to justice and reconciliation in our lives and in creation."
Breaks were spent on a field adjacent to the gymnasium, where 22 African huts had been built. There were issue huts, offering participants an opportunity to bring materials for display or sale around certain issues. There were also huts assigned to sister organisations and we were lucky to have one.
The CWM hut, displaying and selling campaign materials, soon became a focal point for our own delegation comprising Steve Titus (Namibia), Heidi Bruiners (South Africa), Muriel Garrow (England), Barbara Kennett (New Zealand), and Madeline Schofield and myself from the CWM office. Steve and Heidi proved themselves to be enthusiastic assistants to Madeline, who had come especially to run the hut.
The most impressive part of the decade was in many ways the hearing on violence against women, on the second day. Not only for the emotional and painful stories told, but also for the fact that it was one of the first times that these stories could be told at such a major ecumenical gathering; and for the way in which it was handled: with care and sensitivity, but without shirking the issues.
Another memorable moment on the second day was the presentation made to the decade festival by the young women. They started with recognising the way in which older generations of women had paved the way for them, but they also challenged us to be open to their understanding of women's empowerment even if it looked like taking a step backward rather than forward. The presentation was challenging but most of all full of hope, that older and younger women have a common journey to travel.
On day three the African plenary took place. It gave the delegates from Africa a chance to share their struggles with others, to raise the issues that affect Africa today and, by presenting gifts to all the other regions, to express once more the African hospitality we had felt all through the festival. On the final day we had to come to an agreement on the document to be sent to the WCC Assembly. The first draft, discussed on the first day of the festival, had received much criticism. People found it lacking in passion, colourful language and strong imagery. Instead of making amendments the drafting group decided to present the festival with a completely new document.
The new draft asked the WCC's member churches to declare that violence against women is a sin, to commit resources to "restore women to their rightful place in God's household" and to denounce economic injustice and racism. The document was read to the gathering and then discussed in groups. A lengthy plenary then gave us an opportunity to come forward and offer comments and amendments. There were calls for strengthening the language on racism, environmental justice, war and the arms trade. Speakers rose to urge development of a theology that denounces unbridled consumerism in the West and immediate debt cancellation for countries hit by hurricane Mitch.
But the most controversial was a paragraph reflecting the difficulty on discussions around human sexuality. It was here that our ability to reach consensus was severely tested. Avoiding words such as "gay" or "lesbian", it was clear that homosexuality was at issue, as debate centred on wording about "human sexuality in all its diversity". One delegate from Africa asked that "in all its diversity" be struck, others pleaded for its inclusion. In many ways the debate echoes discussions that had gone on for most of the festival, in the plenary and group discussions and in the issue huts on the campus green.
In its final form the paragraph simply acknowledged the differences around issues of human sexuality and as such reflected the diversity within the room. It was as I imagine Bertrice Wood, who led the debate over the document, would have wanted it. Introducing the debate, she urged us to ask not "Is this how I would have written it for my denomination?" but "Have I and others been heard? If each one of us is heard, we may also have to hear some things we don't want to hear. The goal is a document that essentially reflects what we said and reflects the spirit of the festival."
The festival came to a close with the adoption of the document and a beautiful and moving worship. It was an event that will linger long in the memories of many, providing inspiration and challenge for all those who are truly seeking to build a community of women and men in mission. The fellowship, ideas and determination engendered by the festival will continue into the next decade and beyond.